The Oxford Conservative Thought (OCT) Reading Group is a non-partisan group devoted to academic exploration of small-c conservative political thought. We welcome, and actively encourage, viewpoint diversity and constructive engagement across ideological divides (all good-willed participants are welcome!)

Week 8 focuses on the divergent manifestations of conservatism across Europe, with a reading from Richard Bourke.

Please register here: forms.gle/W4tX5qFgSAU171ap9

Each week we read one assigned text, and we recommend more for anyone who is very keen!

The European Union has continually evolved in response to external shocks, often emerging stronger and more integrated in the face of crises. From its origins as an economic project in the aftermath of World War II to the deepening of political and monetary union, the EU has repeatedly adapted to global challenges. The financial crisis of 2008 led to greater fiscal coordination, Brexit reinforced solidarity among remaining member states, and the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented joint debt issuance.

Join us for a public lecture by Prof. Mojtaba Mahdavi (Political Science and Islamic Studies, University of Alberta), followed by a roundtable discussion for which Prof. Mahdavi will be joined by Prof. Ramazan Kilinc (Political Science, University of Nebraska Omaha) and Dr. Sophia Johnson (Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge), chaired by Dr. Hossein Dabbagh (Philosophy, Northeastern University London).

Defending Dignity: Black Women, Family, and Crafting Testimonies in Colonial Mexico

Join us for an insightful roundtable discussion featuring Emily Owens from Brown University and Kaisha Esty from Wesleyan University. These two historians focus on the experiences of enslaved and free women, examining narratives of sexual violence, resistance, legal redress, and survival through meticulous archival excavation. The scholars will explore the complex and precarious meaning of consent for Black women in the nineteenth-century as well as its lingering afterlives in the present day.

This panel brings together two scholars working on contemporary Black urban politics and history. After summarizing their current book projects, Dark Concrete: Black Power Urbanism and the American Metropolis, and Urban Power, Black Mayors: Managing Inequality in Kurt Schmoke's Baltimore, the panellists will discuss twentieth and twenty-first century Black urban politics and history more broadly.

Tareq Baconi is author of 'Hamas Contained: A History of Palestinian Resistance' (Stanford University Press: 2018, 2024). He was the senior analyst for Palestine/Israel at the International Crisis Group, based in Ramallah. His writing has appeared in the New York Review of Books, the London Review of Books, the New York Times, among others. He is president of the board of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.

This event is going to be live online. For registration: https://forms.office.com/r/dFY3nRh6KJ

The abolition of slavery remains a relatively new concept in human history and scholars from all religious traditions have attempted to navigate the religious and ethical questions raised by the historical acceptance of the practice. In this seminar, Haroon Bashir explores how scholars promoting abolition in the name of Islam transformed the debate around Islam and slavery. The seminar explores how abolitionism became the hegemonic position within contemporary Islamic thought and provides a genealogy of ‘Islamic abolitionist’ thought.